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Marital Bliss for Washington’s Suquamish Tribe

The Suquamish tribe, a NorthWestern coastal tribe – in the state of Washington – has approved same-sex marriage for its tribe members, the second tribe in America to make a similar move (in 2009 an Oregon lesbian couple was married by their tribe).

“The Tribal Council held a public hearing on the ordinance change in June and formally adopted it in a unanimous vote Monday.

The new law allows the tribal court to issue a marriage license to two unmarried people, “regardless of their sex,” if they (sic) at least 18 years old and are at least one of them is an enrolled member of the Suquamish Tribe.

The tribal law change came about after the campaigning of 28 year-old Heather Purser. She told the Seatle Pi:

“I wanted to feel accepted by my tribe,” Purser said Tuesday. “I was expecting a fight to be ugly. But I was so shocked. I guess I was expecting the worst out of people. I was expecting the worst out of my people.”

Heroic Women Save Teens in Norway, or, When Married Lesbians Are Ignored by the Media…

Band of Thebes among others have been highly critical of mainstream media for not reporting on the Norwegian married lesbian couple who rescued forty teens during the recent massacre. The couple, Hege Dalen and Toril Hansen, made four trips into the massacre zone to rescue teens out of the water and ferry them to safety. What haven’t we heard much about these heroes?

The mainstream U.S. media, which loves a hero story almost as much as a tragedy, has been uniformly silent about the lesbian superstars. Instead, you get a gay man, Bruce Bawer, in his self-serving WSJ piece saying how shocked he is to discover his extremist anti-Islam writings are quoted in the extremist anti-Islam writings of a killer.

Talk About Equality has followed up with several posts – their initial report being responsible for the story gaining some recognition online – talking about why it is important to note that it was a lesbian couple or a married couple. Just as it is likely the story was ignored for political reasons, the widespread questioning of this neglect is equally political, as Talk About Equality does not deny.

This is a story of not only a lesbian couple that did a heroic thing, but a married lesbian couple – something that is still illegal across this country. Even in the handful of places an American can get married in this country, that marriage is not recognized by the Federal government. That leaves heterosexual couples with more than 1,100 rights which lesbian and gay couples don’t have.

Norway is a world leader when it comes to protecting LGBT people. It was the first country to enact anti-discrimination laws. They decriminalized homosexuality a full 20 years before the US (the land of the free and the home of the brave) did. They’ve had nationally-recognized civil partnerships since 1993 and marriage equality became legal in January of 2009. So it may not be a big deal in Norway that this was a married lesbian couple, but it should be a big deal here.

More Signs of the Apocalypse in the US of A

Well just when we thought Mitt Romney might be the least of the most worst of GOP hopefuls, – at least as far as your homogay interests are concerned – he has come around swinging a hard right along with fellow crazies Bachmann and Santorum. Revel & Riot report:

After initially refusing to sign the anti-gay, pro-slavery pledge from the National Organization for Marriage, Mormon GOP Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has now signed the slightly revised pledge. By signing, the candidates are committing to these intentions if elected:

They will send a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman to the states for ratification.

They will defend DOMA, which includes the traditional definition of marriage and bans states from recognizing gay marriage, in court.

They will appointing (sic) federal judges and an attorney general who are opposed to a constitutional right to same-sex marriage.

EVENTS

Light a Spark for Pride

Montreal Pride is quickly approaching and there is one event that we are really looking forward to. Our good friends, and supporters, Montreal’s Girls Action Foundation presents a special Spark Pride Networking event on August 10:

Following its amazing LIGHT A SPARK campaign, Girls Action Foundation is organizing a networking and performance event featuring remarkable and inspiring women from different generations who love women unabashedly. Queer and/or lesbian young women are invited to participate in this unique networking event to meet women who have made it in various fields while being out and proud. Join us on Wednesday, August 10 at 17:00 at the Zéro 1 Hotel.

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